Decor

Strip construction in the pictures below is accomplished by cutting many very thin strips from sheet glass. The strips range from 1/4" to 1/2". The piece is assembled by standing each strip on edge and packing the strips together very tightly. This can be a very time consuming process. The completed piece is heated very slowly in the kiln till it reaches either a contour or full fusing temperature and held at that time for good while. It is then cooled very, very slowly in the kiln back to room temperature. The firing takes about 24 hours. 

Another way to work with strips is to lay each one flat and interlace with other strips, as pictured below. 

Before I start an art piece using what I call 'chip' construction I take sheet glass and use mosaic nippers to chip it into small pieces. Then I build the piece by placing each chip on edge and placing adjacent to another piece. The waves pictured above are about 12" in diameter and these take hours to build.  For the framed pieces I first draw the image onto a clear  piece of sheet with glass paints. Then fill in the design with the glass chips. These pieces are all fired to a contour fuse which allows all the glass edges to soften and round out but maintains the texture that is created by placing each chip on edge. 

Our son got married in Hawaii last year and I came back very inspired to create decor with the Hawaiian flare.

 Glass reflects and transmits light so beautifully that glass flowers are a perfect way to show off the vibrant colors. Each petal and blade of grass is hand cut. The pieces are assembled and fired and built into a display. These blooms never fade and need very little water :-) 

For the flowers in the red pot, the greenery and the flowers are fired separately. Then the two are layered together and fired a 3rd time. The finished item is displayed in a black metal stand. 

The flowers in the vase are constructed of diamond cut pieces and there are several layers of multi sized diamonds fired together. The finished item is attached to copper tubing to create the stem.